Saturday, May 26, 2012
Friday, December 16, 2011
Reflection Technology across Contents
Integrating Technology across Content Reflection
What I am grateful for as far as my GAME plan is concerned is it forced me to take action on a project that I have been meaning to do but had been putting off until I had “more time”. Building my digital warehouse has been an enjoyable and very helpful as I have reviewed many possible sources of learning for students and myself. It has been helpful too as I my peers and instructor have given me websites I was tuned in and already set up to add them to my growing “warehouse” of resources. What I have found interesting is that several websites that were suggested to me by fellow co workers, I also found in our text materials. My initial thoughts actually trying to decide on a worthwhile goal for the GAME plan was the most difficult part of the process. Once I decided on what would be of benefit, the rest came easily. GAME plans are a great way to zero in on one specific topic to build on. .While much less involved than our previous project of inquiry based plans, I can see this being an easy way to organize and evaluate goals in education situations. My Game plan also forced me out of my comfort zone to ask for help from my co workers in other schools, even districts, as I requested not only learning websites but input on their district’s’ technology use policies.
In the week three video, Customizing Instruction, John Ross stresses that using technology strategies reaches the needs of all students from the gifted to ELL students who struggle with language, to readers who are well below grade level. Just this week after watching a para educator struggle with some educational concepts while using sign language with a hearing impaired student, I was able to share some resources Ross presented that could be of some help. Some of the suggestions I plan to implement immediately for my own struggling readers are having recorded readings of the text the class is reading. I plan to find different level of books to read online. Another activity I plan to use soon is making a storyboard for the Edgar Allan Poe unit which includes, “Annabel Lee”, “The Raven”, and “The Tell Tale Heart”, to add to the already in- place assignment of writing a persuasive piece on whether or not Poe is appropriate for 8th graders to study. We can then share those persuasive writings with another classroom through E -Pals.
References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). Meeting students needs with technology [Webcast]. Helping diverse learners access content. Baltimore, MD: Author
What I am grateful for as far as my GAME plan is concerned is it forced me to take action on a project that I have been meaning to do but had been putting off until I had “more time”. Building my digital warehouse has been an enjoyable and very helpful as I have reviewed many possible sources of learning for students and myself. It has been helpful too as I my peers and instructor have given me websites I was tuned in and already set up to add them to my growing “warehouse” of resources. What I have found interesting is that several websites that were suggested to me by fellow co workers, I also found in our text materials. My initial thoughts actually trying to decide on a worthwhile goal for the GAME plan was the most difficult part of the process. Once I decided on what would be of benefit, the rest came easily. GAME plans are a great way to zero in on one specific topic to build on. .While much less involved than our previous project of inquiry based plans, I can see this being an easy way to organize and evaluate goals in education situations. My Game plan also forced me out of my comfort zone to ask for help from my co workers in other schools, even districts, as I requested not only learning websites but input on their district’s’ technology use policies.
In the week three video, Customizing Instruction, John Ross stresses that using technology strategies reaches the needs of all students from the gifted to ELL students who struggle with language, to readers who are well below grade level. Just this week after watching a para educator struggle with some educational concepts while using sign language with a hearing impaired student, I was able to share some resources Ross presented that could be of some help. Some of the suggestions I plan to implement immediately for my own struggling readers are having recorded readings of the text the class is reading. I plan to find different level of books to read online. Another activity I plan to use soon is making a storyboard for the Edgar Allan Poe unit which includes, “Annabel Lee”, “The Raven”, and “The Tell Tale Heart”, to add to the already in- place assignment of writing a persuasive piece on whether or not Poe is appropriate for 8th graders to study. We can then share those persuasive writings with another classroom through E -Pals.
References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). Meeting students needs with technology [Webcast]. Helping diverse learners access content. Baltimore, MD: Author
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
GAME Plan Monitoring Week 4
I am feeling really good about the digital warehouse I am amassing. I sent out a school-wide email rwequesting worthy sites and within one minute had three sent to me. Within 10 minutes I had 15! I love learning new things, so researching websites has been not only informative and thought provoking, but also enjoyable. I don’t know if I will email the high school and elementary as the materials might not be age appropriate with being either too high or too low. Does anybody have suggestions on that? So far I have learned that there are so many resources on line that support not just education, but diverse education. I had no idea before two weeks ago of the scope of available sites that provide assistance for students who need extra support. So far I don't hve any modifications. What I have been doing is working out well. I look forward to haveing such a digital "bank" of webisites to use in my classroom lesson plans.
A question that has arisen for me is, do any of you have a district- wide technology etiquette policy that can be shared?
A question that has arisen for me is, do any of you have a district- wide technology etiquette policy that can be shared?
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
This week has given me excellent ideas for continued learning resources for students with technology. When I first reading the text book this past weekend I will admit that I was feeling like I was out of my element with providing content material at different levels but after reading and listening to the videos I now feel more comfortable. I will definitely add the websites of CAST,wested,and Assisted Tech. to my bookmarked sites with notes on usage. My resources for building a data warehouse for websites to incorporate into lesson plans are in the course materials I have kept, so I will continue to bookmark those and organize articles better.I will also set up a Voki account for future voice/text conversion. Finally, I will need to keep in touch with the technology people(luckily they are in my building)to stay abreast of the impending technology etiquette curriculum that will be addressed in the near future.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
GAME plan
My GAME plans are as follows.
First Goal
NETS*T 4c:
Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.
This was my style of teaching long before technology took such a big step into classrooms. I feel empowered to open the technology world up to my students and am excited to be in an educational position that will allow me to share all the new found materials made available to me in the process of earning this degree. My timeline is this school year to begin with.
First Goal Actions:
Organize by subject/units the materials that have been saved in notebooks from the courses to-date.
Continue to collect materials and ideas from fellow educators, education classes, and Internet sources that deal with technology use in education.
Be vigilant when creating lesson plans that incorporate various technology driven materials and skills.
Second Goal
NETS*T 2a:
Promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information.
This is an opportune time for me to making this a goal as the school district is undergoing a mandated policy that require students to be taught social etiquette in technology. The actual policy design will start in January and be completed summer of 2012 with implimentation of curriculum school year 2012/2013. Until then I can be collecting etiquette expectation materials.
Monitoring and Evaluating
Keeping a digital journal/portfolio (Cennamo, Ross and Ertmer, 2019)
a) file informational materials
b) record reflections of technology used and results for further evaluation and modifications
c) bookmarks of useful websites
Evaluate portfolio monthly for progress of set goals
a) Answer questions to following question for
i) am I incorporating appropriate technology and creative thinking activities into
lesson plans?
ii) are the students more engaged with the lesson plans?
iii) am I teaching, modeling, and following appropriate Internet etiquette?
b) Do I need to modify what I am doing?
c) Are there better sources than what I am using?
First Goal
NETS*T 4c:
Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.
This was my style of teaching long before technology took such a big step into classrooms. I feel empowered to open the technology world up to my students and am excited to be in an educational position that will allow me to share all the new found materials made available to me in the process of earning this degree. My timeline is this school year to begin with.
First Goal Actions:
Organize by subject/units the materials that have been saved in notebooks from the courses to-date.
Continue to collect materials and ideas from fellow educators, education classes, and Internet sources that deal with technology use in education.
Be vigilant when creating lesson plans that incorporate various technology driven materials and skills.
Second Goal
NETS*T 2a:
Promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information.
This is an opportune time for me to making this a goal as the school district is undergoing a mandated policy that require students to be taught social etiquette in technology. The actual policy design will start in January and be completed summer of 2012 with implimentation of curriculum school year 2012/2013. Until then I can be collecting etiquette expectation materials.
Monitoring and Evaluating
Keeping a digital journal/portfolio (Cennamo, Ross and Ertmer, 2019)
a) file informational materials
b) record reflections of technology used and results for further evaluation and modifications
c) bookmarks of useful websites
Evaluate portfolio monthly for progress of set goals
a) Answer questions to following question for
i) am I incorporating appropriate technology and creative thinking activities into
lesson plans?
ii) are the students more engaged with the lesson plans?
iii) am I teaching, modeling, and following appropriate Internet etiquette?
b) Do I need to modify what I am doing?
c) Are there better sources than what I am using?
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Reflection
While I still firmly believe in Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences and Bloom’s Taxonomy, with the information I learned in this course now will add some of the theories of other behaviorists to my personal theory of learning.
I knew that cooperative learning is an important learning strategy, but now I realize that it is built on research by Vygotsky and is critical in the high tech world of our students today. They will have to know how to cooperatively work with not just someone else in their own office, but possibly someone from an entirely different country and culture. Combining technology with the most basic form of learning from those directly involved in our lives from birth to death is astounding to me.
I also have known that being actively involved in learning makes for much stronger memory recall and better comprehension. What I didn’t realize before is how much research supports this theory. This theory of Constuctionism has been supported by Piaget, and even the first behaviorist Jon B. Watson, who theorized that in the stimulus-response mode individuals responded to the environment around them (Smith, 1999) in observable changes in behavior.
Immediate changes I plan when the opportunity arises in my teaching situation will be to use a more creative environment. Of particular interest to me is the concept mapping to use for organization of concepts and information. The other learning tool I plan to incorporate is voicethread due to the ease of operation and the limitless variety of ways it can be used. My plan for achieving these goals is to spend time this summer exploring the possibilities through internet research on how others have used these tools in a classroom setting and actually exploring more personally with what can be done with this technology.
Long term goals are to find good homework sites that support reading. This is an area of deficiency for me and one I plan to work on. Again, I will cruise the internet as well as ask classmates and colleagues for good websites they may have come across. Another long term goal will be to get more staff on board with what can be done with technology. Sharing websites and learning tools will support that goal. I will also have to approach the technology people within the school district about making it possible for students to have access to personal email addresses within the district for those that don’t have computers at home.
I look forward reviewing the new websites made available to me in this course. I find lesson planning to be a creative experience. It will fun to see what is actually out there to incorporate into active, multiple intelligence, cooperation based lesson plans.
References:
Smith, M.K. (1999) ‘The behaviourist orientation to learning’, the encyclopedia of
informational education,www.infew.org/biblio/learning-behaviourist.htm, Last
update: September 03, 2009.
I knew that cooperative learning is an important learning strategy, but now I realize that it is built on research by Vygotsky and is critical in the high tech world of our students today. They will have to know how to cooperatively work with not just someone else in their own office, but possibly someone from an entirely different country and culture. Combining technology with the most basic form of learning from those directly involved in our lives from birth to death is astounding to me.
I also have known that being actively involved in learning makes for much stronger memory recall and better comprehension. What I didn’t realize before is how much research supports this theory. This theory of Constuctionism has been supported by Piaget, and even the first behaviorist Jon B. Watson, who theorized that in the stimulus-response mode individuals responded to the environment around them (Smith, 1999) in observable changes in behavior.
Immediate changes I plan when the opportunity arises in my teaching situation will be to use a more creative environment. Of particular interest to me is the concept mapping to use for organization of concepts and information. The other learning tool I plan to incorporate is voicethread due to the ease of operation and the limitless variety of ways it can be used. My plan for achieving these goals is to spend time this summer exploring the possibilities through internet research on how others have used these tools in a classroom setting and actually exploring more personally with what can be done with this technology.
Long term goals are to find good homework sites that support reading. This is an area of deficiency for me and one I plan to work on. Again, I will cruise the internet as well as ask classmates and colleagues for good websites they may have come across. Another long term goal will be to get more staff on board with what can be done with technology. Sharing websites and learning tools will support that goal. I will also have to approach the technology people within the school district about making it possible for students to have access to personal email addresses within the district for those that don’t have computers at home.
I look forward reviewing the new websites made available to me in this course. I find lesson planning to be a creative experience. It will fun to see what is actually out there to incorporate into active, multiple intelligence, cooperation based lesson plans.
References:
Smith, M.K. (1999) ‘The behaviourist orientation to learning’, the encyclopedia of
informational education,www.infew.org/biblio/learning-behaviourist.htm, Last
update: September 03, 2009.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Social Learning Theories
Week 5 Blog-
As noted in Cooperative Learning –Emerging Perspectives on Learning, Teaching,and Technology (2003), cooperative learning is an American concept much like the collaborative learning which has British roots. Cooperative learning started with John Dewey’s philosophy of the social nature of learning. Then in 1978 Vygotsky weighed in with his hypotheses that social interaction among students extends their zone of proximal development. Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn ,and Malenoski have included in their work, Using Technology with Classroom Instructions that Works(2007), this statement made by Johnson, Johnson, and Stanne in 2000, When students work in cooperative groups, they make sense or construct meaning for, new knowledge by interacting with others (p.139).
With the availability of technology in schools today, being able to implement cooperative learning can now extend way beyond a classroom, school, and even community. As a reading teacher I love the idea of being able to do a book study with students from another place. The different perspectives would be fascinating. I can visualize teams creating power points to send to other places and compare lives between the students. Pen pals via the internet, sharing favorite recipes to fix and eat on the same day…the possibilities are endless. As stated in the resource book… Using Technology with Classroom Instructions that Works, the Web has become much more than an electronic reference book; it’s a thriving medium for collaboration in business, education, and our personal lives (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 144).
I don’t where I’ll be teaching next year. My fervent hope is to have my own classroom again so that I can use all the ideas being presented in this class. I can’t wait to get started. I especially look forward to an activity between my class and my son’s who is an hour and a half away.
References:
Palmer, G., Peters, R., & Streetman, R. (2003). Cooperative lerning. In M. Orey (Ed.),
Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved on
May, 12, 2011, from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epllt/index.php?title=
Cooperative_Learning
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E.R., Kuhn, M., Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with
classroom instruction that works. ASCD. Alexandria, VA. (p.139)(p.144).
As noted in Cooperative Learning –Emerging Perspectives on Learning, Teaching,and Technology (2003), cooperative learning is an American concept much like the collaborative learning which has British roots. Cooperative learning started with John Dewey’s philosophy of the social nature of learning. Then in 1978 Vygotsky weighed in with his hypotheses that social interaction among students extends their zone of proximal development. Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn ,and Malenoski have included in their work, Using Technology with Classroom Instructions that Works(2007), this statement made by Johnson, Johnson, and Stanne in 2000, When students work in cooperative groups, they make sense or construct meaning for, new knowledge by interacting with others (p.139).
With the availability of technology in schools today, being able to implement cooperative learning can now extend way beyond a classroom, school, and even community. As a reading teacher I love the idea of being able to do a book study with students from another place. The different perspectives would be fascinating. I can visualize teams creating power points to send to other places and compare lives between the students. Pen pals via the internet, sharing favorite recipes to fix and eat on the same day…the possibilities are endless. As stated in the resource book… Using Technology with Classroom Instructions that Works, the Web has become much more than an electronic reference book; it’s a thriving medium for collaboration in business, education, and our personal lives (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 144).
I don’t where I’ll be teaching next year. My fervent hope is to have my own classroom again so that I can use all the ideas being presented in this class. I can’t wait to get started. I especially look forward to an activity between my class and my son’s who is an hour and a half away.
References:
Palmer, G., Peters, R., & Streetman, R. (2003). Cooperative lerning. In M. Orey (Ed.),
Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved on
May, 12, 2011, from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epllt/index.php?title=
Cooperative_Learning
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E.R., Kuhn, M., Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with
classroom instruction that works. ASCD. Alexandria, VA. (p.139)(p.144).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)